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GridMeNow helps with DOD exercise

Planners for the Jackal Stone 2012 special operations exercise that took place in Croatia in September created quite the scenario. The fictional country of Freedonia was infiltrated by a criminal organization, and an 11-nation coalition of forces led by the United States stepped in and dealt with the situation.

In order to coordinate all of the pieces in play, real-time, location-based information had to be available for the decision-makers. For this exercise, the White Canvas Group from Alexandria, Va., developed a secure customized version of its GridMeNow application. The smart phone-based application allowed operators to share and use location-based reports and relay real-time operations data to the people who needed it.

The commercial version of GridMeNow is designed to let people affected by a disaster more accurately notify first responders. A couple clicks and the emergency personnel have an alert, a geographical location and even pictures and video as needed.

As public-sector agencies develop emergency response and preparedness plans -- from military and civilian federal agencies to state, local and even campus security operations -- applications such as GridMeNow are likely to be used more often.

About the Author

Greg Crowe is a former GCN staff writer who covered mobile technology.